You Have Opened Up The Heart of Me
by courtneymarie87
Summary: One- Shot. Takes place during 1X21 "Monster's in the End" from Spencer Hastings POV. What is she thinking about when she gets stuck in the funhouse? Who is she thinking about?  Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the lovely PLL characters or storylines.


How could she have been so stupid? The writing was on the wall. Literally. She should have known the message wasn't from Toby. She should never have gone into the funhouse without being sure.

Now, here she was. Whomever had been trying to frame her had most likely also lured her into this tiny cylinder of a room and she wasn't sure that she would ever find her way out.

Who would hear her?

Would Toby worry about her when he really showed and couldn't find her? What if she never saw him again? The thought of never being near him, seeing his piercing eyes, kissing his full lips again made her chest constrict with even more panic then she was already feeling.

"Hello? Hello? Hello? Can somebody please help me? Hey, can somebody hear me? SOMEBODY PLEASE OPEN THIS! HELLO? SOMEBODY PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR! HELLO? PLEASE!"

She couldn't yell any louder. Her throat was growing ragged and with the noise from the funhouse music and the screaming teenagers running rampant through its mazes; there was no way anyone could hear her.

Tears began streaming down her face as thoughts raced through her head. Hanna. Aria. Emily. Her parents. Ian. Ali. Melissa. A. It was all too much. None of it made sense. And through all their trying to figure it out, it had just landed her here. A murder suspect. Bullied and trapped.

"HELLO? PLEASE!"

It was hard to breath. The devilish laughter of horrifying characters conjured from make believe to scare carnival goers sounded like it was getting louder every second. Was this make believe? Was it all make believe? Was ANY of it make believe?

*BLIP.*

She scrambled to pull her phone from her pocket. It was only Aria and Spencer didn't have time to talk about the latest on Fitz. Her phone slipped from her hands in frustration and bounced from side to side before settling itself on the floor.

Suddenly, there was a distinct banging on the outside of her chamber of horrors. It sounded like metal against metal. Someone trying to get her out.

"Toby? Is that you?"

The next thing she knew, she was face to face with Ian. And a crowbar. As if she hadn't been scared enough. He must've trapped her in there. Wanted to leave her alone long enough that she became so weak she couldn't fight him back when he came for her. Why did he have to come back to Rosewood? Why did he have to make her life a living nightmare?

"Ian?", she heard Melissa's voice.

"Yeah. I've got her. She's fine." He knelt to pick up her phone as she took what felt like her first breath in ages. She saw her mother and Melissa running towards them and forced herself to move straight into her mother's arms.

"Oh, honey. Are you okay?"

She heard the faint garble of voices around her as she rested her head on her mother's shoulder and took in the fact that she was free. No longer confined in a mind numbing space. Not knowing if she would ever see night, day or otherwise again. Then her mind wandered back to Toby.

Toby.

Was he there? She needed to see him. Spencer knew he was the only person who could make her feel like she was truly safe again.

*BLIP.*

She grabbed her phone from Ian, distancing herself from the people who only seemed to care what happened to her when it was convenient, placing the rest of her hope in this noise not being the signal of another contact from Aria.

"I'm here. Where can I find you?" - Toby

Her heart rode a mini roller-coaster of emotions. She had to get to him. Placing her phone back into her pocket, she heard Ian giving a carnival employee a piece of his mind about what could have happened to her. She shot a disgusted look his way. As if he cared. This was all just another cover up. Disregarding what was going on behind her, Spencer set off out of the funhouse.

She felt the cold air on her face, took a breath and turned to her left.

There he was. Hands in his pockets. Concern for her on his face. Real concern. Not the contrived concern that had been displayed following her rescue. As much as she wanted to run to him with reckless abandon, something kept her still. When she didn't go to him immediately, she saw a slight movement in his face. A quiet sadness.

"C'mon girls. Let's cut through here", she heard her mother say. A single tear rolled down Spencer's cheek and she quickly wiped it away. Not wanting the world to see her at a weak moment. She stared at him again. She took a deep breath. Why hadn't she gone to him yet? She saw his chest rise, she knew he was wondering the same thing. She knew he thought she'd given up on him. Given back in to the idea that he was no good for her, for anyone. He had no idea what she had just been through. No idea that while in her peril, all she could think about was getting back to him.

"Spencer?", her mother again. Suddenly she was moving. Moving towards her mother, towards Melissa. Walking away. Maybe if he wasn't a part of her life, this would all leave her alone. Maybe her family was right. Being seen with Toby Cavanaugh was bad for her image. She could get back in good graces.

But…

It took approximately five steps to realize that her brain was foolish to think it could trick her into believing such nonsense. Toby was the only one who knew what she was going through. The only one who would do anything and everything to help her. He had seen her at her weakest moments and he had helped make them her strongest. She had already wasted too much time being afraid of him when what she really should have been was by his side.

And then she was.

Finally, his arms were around her again. It was like no other feeling in the world to have him holding her. Spencer could feel the relief in his bones; she hadn't given up on him. Their embrace was strong. She felt safe, just like she knew she would. She could feel eyes on her. The eyes of her mother and Melissa. The eye of "her neighbors". She knew what they were thinking and she didn't give a damn.

Spencer pulled slightly from their embrace and crushed her mouth to his. She had wanted to kiss him again since the morning at the motel. She had wanted to tell him how much he meant to her, how she felt herself getting lost in him. How she knew she was going to love him one day. And this moment, these few moments, were enough to say it all for her.

His hands in her hair, his lips returning every feeling she had and more. He slowly pulled his face away from hers. She didn't want him to. He didn't want to. But she knew why he did. He cupped her face in his hands. His eyes searched her, trying to figure out what had happened to keep her from him. She decided to let her tears fall freely. He'd take care of her.

She looked over to see her family still standing there, obviously perplexed by her choice. She looked up at Toby and he slid his arm around her waist pulling her to him. Resting her head on his shoulder, she let him lead her away.

"Are you okay?"

"I am now that I'm with you."


End file.
